The invention relates to a sealing means for a wall member of partition walls, and in particular to a wall member having on its upper and lower edges a raisable and lowerable sealing strip.
In many applications partition walls are produced by joining together individual wall members. If the partition is to be removable, the wall members are displaceably mounted on running gears or on a chassis mounted on rails located in the ceiling. Prior to the removal of the partition wall, any fixing member must be released and the individual walls member then moved to a point provided for its removal. However, if the partition wall is not to be removed, the wall members are set up and fixed without any such chassis. The wall members of such installations suffer from the disadvantage that they can be installed only if they are somewhat smaller than the overhead clearance of the particular space, so that a gap is left behind after installation. This gap considerably reduces the sound damping action of the partition wall, even if the wall construction has a good sound-proofing.
Wall members for partitions are known in which extendable sealing strips are provided on the upper and lower edge of each wall member (German Pat. No. 2,306,617). The wall member comprises a profile frame in which the sealing strips are displaceably mounted. As a closing or cover is normally provided on the lateral edge of the wall member, the sealing strip cannot be moved up to the butt joint between the respective upper and lower edge and the lateral edge. Thus, at this joint there is an untight or loose joint, which must be closed by an additional sealing insert, which is connected to the sealing strips. However, this arrangement is complicated and does not constitute an ideal sound-insulating solution, because the sound can pass freely through the gap existing at the sealing insert and at the sealing strips.
It has also been known to displace the sealing strips of the wall members, by means of a linkage, which engages in the center of the sealing strip. However, the disadvantage then exists that the sealing strips are non-uniformly compressed so that the sealing of the gap is not reliably ensured.
It is an object of the invention to so construct a sealing means for wall members, that a simple and effective sound insulation is obtained at the sealing strips, and the butt joints.